Sunday, October 6, 2013

Wesley's "View" on Kava?

Last week, I reflected in this column on the recent call
by the leadership of the Methodist Church in Fiji for clergy and members to
abstain from drinking kava and smoking on church premises and on Sundays. My
perspective was from the issue of health and vitality – both physical and
spiritual.

In the week that has followed, I have received some very
interesting and varying responses and comments. Some were supportive and encouraging
of the move to reduce excessive kava drinking in the church, smoking and even
overeating by ministers, lay pastors, lay leaders and even members.

A traditional iTaukei yaqona ceremony. The author says discussion within the Methodist Church on yaqona drinking needs also to be open to the Wesleyan tradition. Picture: www.raw-devotion.com

There were, however a number of critics of this move.
Some feel that this move is dictatorial , that it infringes on the freedom of
the individual as from a human rights perspective and that it does not take
into consideration the traditional i-Taukei culture. Some, as I mentioned last week have responded
by quoting biblical passages to support
their view.

As I reflected on the criticisms on the call for the reduction
in kava consumption, for the church to be smoke-free and for a healthy church,
I began to wonder what the founder of Methodism, John Wesley might contribute
to the debate. Of course, Wesley lived in 18th century England which
would only hear about “Feejee” or the “Cannibal Isles” towards the latter part
of the 1700s.

18th century England was a “century of
contrasts.” This period saw the development British economic and political
expansion, the “Enlightenment” and relative stability within and without the
United Kingdom. However he also notes
that this “imposing superstructure was built on a foundation of poverty and
wretchedness,” that was for the most ignored by ruling class and intelligentsia
who were satisfied with the status quo. “Prosperity of the nation presupposed a
permanent pool of poverty to sustain it and that there was a providential
arrangement which had decreed that the many poor should serve the interests of
the few rich.”

The cost of food was in
low supply but high in price which led to regular riots. 50 percent of
Britain’s wheat was used in distilling liquor. Oats were consumed by horses
used for transport rather than for cattle and sheep which could provide meat.

Wesley was no stranger to the issue of excessive
drinking, particularly in the area of alcoholic spirits. While food was
expensive, distilled liquor, in particular gin was produced cheaply and readily
available. Gin shops, an estimated 17,000 in London alone, required no license
to operate and the public were able to “get drunk on for a penny or dead-drunk
for two-pence,” with free straw to lie on.
The consumption of distilled spirits more than doubled between 1750.
When the Gin Act was introduced by the government in 1736 to raise funds to
service the national debt through high duty, riots broke out across England and
the Act was repealed in 1742.

Writing on the moral situation in the 1700s Wesley
notes:

“Our nation stands on the
brink of destruction. And why are we thus, but because the cry of wickedness is
gone up to heaven? Because we have so exceedingly, abundantly, beyond measure,
corrupted our ways before the Lord.”

Rev. Dr Lesley G Anderson writes that Wesley’s, ‘Letter
to an Alcoholic’, revealed the unpleasant truth that the use of alcohol is,
detrimental to persons and society. Utilizing the disciplines of anthropology, psychology,
sociology and theology, undergirded by Scripture, Wesleylaunched a formidable attack
against it and classified it as a social evil.

Concerned about the value and wellbeing of the whole
person, each of whom was made in the image of God, Wesley made a personal plea
for total abstinence. He was concerned that the habitual use of alcoholwas a
‘diabolical practice’, which leveled a ‘human’ to the inferior state of an
‘animal’ and therefore, degraded the human personality. This is what he wrote:

“You are a human being! God made you human, but you have
converted yourself into an animal. What is the difference between a human and
an animal? Is it not, perhaps, reasoning and understanding? But you have wasted
your ability to reason and divested yourself of understanding”

Wesley makes the distinction between the human and animal
to highlight the negation of selfhood and the debasement of Christian
character, self-respect, dignity and worth. He was therefore unambiguous in his
plea for total abstinence. He was concerned about the harm alcohol caused to
the body and the soul.

I agree with Anderson in that while Wesley’s letter was
very strong in tone, it was also basically pastoral, because his primary
purpose was to ‘save souls’ for Christ. As a result he highlighted the fact, that
standards of behaviour for the Christian must be different from that of
society. The Christian must make a difference. The Christian should live out
his/her faith and put his/her beliefs into practice.

For Methodists in Fiji, this Wesleyan tradition calls
leaders to pledge not to drink alcohol (with exception made occasionally for
Holy Communion) and encouraged their congregations to do the same.

In the situation of excessive kava consumption, I would
suggest that if we apply the Wesleyan “method” of reflecting on issues based on
Scripture, reason, tradition and experience, we would find ourselves drawing
similar conclusions to that of Wesley on alcoholic spirits.

It is important to add here that I understand that kava
is an important part of I-Taukei
culture. However at the same time I would suggest that we also need to
remember the difference between the historical and traditional use of kava and
the contemporary and common cultural use of culture.

In his Master of
Social Sciences in Anthropology Thesis for the University of Waikato, by Sekove
Degei writes of kava as “a stumbling block” (reflected from Romans
14:13; 1Corinthinias 1:23 )for the church.

According to
Degei, the presentation of yaqona has symbolic significance to the village
people, especially Methodist church members in Fiji. Sitting together in the
customary ranked order in a yaqona drinking circle after church, listening and
observing the rituals that go together with it, is seen as helping consolidate
the traditional communal living of the community and reaffirming social ties
and relations. As Tomlinson (2002:52) writes” “Not drinking kava [yaqona] cuts
oneself off from the social life of the community.”

Degei adds that
all the Methodists he interviewed in his research “agreed that the reason why
the church leaders are trying to encourage limiting the consumption of kava is
that too many members have abused the practice. It was stated that some
talatala and the vakatawa are really heavy drinkers of kava and this can be
seen in their skin and complexions, which tend to be grey, even scaly.”

I understand that
the issue of the tradition of I-Taukei culture in relation to kava/yaqona is
being deliberated by the Methodist Church’s Standing Committee. This is an
important conversation if a clear understanding of how and when, kava may be
consumed by Methodists. However, any discussion needs also to be open to the
Wesleyan tradition, of which the people called Methodists in Fiji need always
to be mindful, if they wish to be part of that legacy.

For example, the “Ticket” issued to Methodist Class
members was a visible sign of discipline in life and society, regardless of
social situation. Even for poor members it was a source of self respect and
respect by fellow members as it signified that their moral life was taken much
more seriously and maintained at a higher level in the society than in the
national church.

This “membership ticket”, which remains an essential (if
often ignored) element of the Methodist Church Constitution, could serve as a
reminder that the Methodist community is not just an institution or a leg of
the “Three Legged Stool” but an alternative Christian community, that is not
afraid or satisfied to follow the norm, simply because it is common practice in
society.